Local handgrip exercise at 30% and 50% intensity prevented the decline in flow-mediated dilation following ischaemia-reperfusion injury compared to seated rest (post-IR FMD 4.39% and 5.50% vs 2.75%).
Does handgrip exercise prevent endothelial ischaemia-reperfusion injury in healthy older individuals?
A single bout of local handgrip exercise at moderate or high intensity may protect against endothelial ischaemia-reperfusion injury in older individuals.
Absolute Event Rate: 5.5% vs 2.75%
Abstract Background Ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) injury is a counterintuitive phenomenon where the reperfusion which is necessary to restore ischaemia is also a harmful stimulus for tissues. Studies in healthy young individuals reveal the potential of an acute bout of local exercise to prevent endothelial and cardiac IR injury. Whether handgrip exercise is also able to induce such protective effects in older individuals, and specifically at what intensity, is unknown. Purpose To examine whether a single bout of local handgrip exercise can protect against endothelial IR-injury in older individuals, and whether these effects depend on exercise intensity. Methods We included 15 healthy participants of ≥40 years. Participants visited our laboratory on four separate occasions to undergo: 30-min seated rest (control), 4x5 min ischemic preconditioning (as a positive control), and 4x5 min handgrip exercises (at both 30 and 50% of the maximum voluntary contraction), with ≥2wk wash-out between sessions. During each session, endothelial function was measured used the flow-mediated dilation (FMD) at baseline and 30-min following the intervention. Subsequently, IR was induced through 15-min upper arm ischaemia and 20-min reperfusion, followed by a final FMD. FMD was determined and adjusted for shear rate and baseline diameter, resulting in an allometrically scaled FMD. Differences in FMD between baseline and post IR were compared between all interventions. Data analysis of the full dataset (n=15) is not yet completed, but this is expected in January 2026. Therefore, preliminary results are presented descriptively as mean (95% confidence interval). Results We present data from 10 individuals (6 females (60%), aged 62±6, BMI of 28±3 kg/m²). IR decreased FMD from 5.73% (4.58-6.87%) to 2.75% (1.57-3.93%) in control. In contrast, we found ischemic preconditioning to prevent the decrease in FMD by IR (before: 5.01% 3.84-6.17% and after IR: 4.64% 3.47-5.79%) (Figure 1). Similarly, handgrip exercise at both 30 and 50% also negated the change in FMD (from 3.77% 2.59-4.93% to 4.39% 3.22-5.54% at 30% and from 4.61% 3.43-5.77% to 5.50% 4.27-6.72% at 50%, respectively). Conclusion Since the full dataset is not yet completed, results should be interpreted with caution. Nonetheless, our data are consistent with observations from previous studies, in that IR-injury leads to a marked decrease in endothelial function in older individuals, whilst this decline can be prevented by ischaemic preconditioning as a ‘positive control’ experiment. Novel elements in our study include our assessment of the ability of local, short-term handgrip exercise to provide remote protection against endothelial IR-injury in older individuals, both performed at moderate and high exercise intensity. This supports further work to explore the potential for local exercise to protect against endothelial IR-injury, and to potentially extend to a clinical setting.For image description, please refer to the figure legend and surrounding text.
Ven et al. (Mon,) conducted a other in Healthy participants (n=15). Handgrip exercise vs. 30-min seated rest was evaluated on Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) after ischaemia-reperfusion. Local handgrip exercise at 30% and 50% intensity prevented the decline in flow-mediated dilation following ischaemia-reperfusion injury compared to seated rest (post-IR FMD 4.39% and 5.50% vs 2.75%).